A NEW creative programme for the children of teenage parents, refugees and people in deprived areas has been set up to help provide support for artists during the coronavirus pandemic.

As well as a response to the current shortfall of creative opportunities for freelancers, it will try to address concerns about young people’s lack of involvement in cultural experiences.

Three projects over six months will engage with refugee families, groups of children and young mothers and babies, and also provide employment opportunities for 17 artists, practitioners and production staff.

The Where We Are programme will be co-designed with children and young people across Edinburgh, Glasgow and Fife and will be delivered by the Starcatchers, Imaginate and Lyra organisations.

Building on previous work in and around Lochgelly and an existing relationship with Fife Gingerbread, Starcatchers will create a team of artists and artistic trainees to engage with teen parents and their babies in communities across the south and west of the region.

Starcatchers’ chief executive Rhona Matheson said she hoped the initiative would bring some “joy, magic and creativity to children and young people”.

“Central to the Starcatchers project strand is the opportunity to engage artists to work directly in communities in Fife with teen parents and their babies who have found the impact of the pandemic particularly challenging,” she said.

“We are delighted to be working alongside Imaginate and Lyra on this initiative, which will offer so many artists and practitioners paid employment over the coming months after one of the most challenging times in our sector.” 

Imaginate’s strand will focus on engagement with refugee families, working in partnership with Refuweegee in Glasgow and the Multi Cultural Family Base (MCFB) in Edinburgh, two community organisations driven by the desire to eliminate racism in Scotland. 

The creative teams will work collaboratively with the participants to develop live performances in an exploration of place and people reflecting on their lives and hopes in this unusual time.

“It is a huge privilege to have funding to recruit a team of artists and to work together with Starcatchers and Lyra on a programme of professional development, especially after the year we have had,” said Fiona Ferguson, Imaginate’s creative development director.

“We are delighted to be working with Multi Cultural Family Base again, and in particular with the Safe Haven group of children, and to begin a relationship with Refuweegee and the children and families they work with. The children will work alongside theatre and dance artists to co-create a performance that expresses their ideas, questions and hopes, and to meet the group doing the same on the other end of the M8.”

Lyra will create a travelling theatre ensemble based at Artspace in Edinburgh’s Craigmillar.

Led by artistic director, Jo Timmins, it will aim to engage children and young people in a range of experiences, from watching live performances that have been made especially for them, to learning new skills in multi-art forms, including design and backstage crafts.

They will also create their own live performances and events to share with family and friends.   

“The Where We Are ensemble is an exciting new initiative that enables Lyra to provide ongoing work for a team of theatre professionals, while at the same time providing children and young people in greater Craigmillar with a range of cultural experiences,” said Timmins.

“The vision for the ensemble is to embed creativity in the young people’s own spaces, their nurseries, schools, community buildings and outdoors.”

The Where We Are recruitment for artists will be live on the organisations’ websites and announced on social media channels @Starcatchersuk @ImaginateUK @Lyraedinburgh.